My calves really hurt

Doing more and more running these days. Good shoes, good technique. Stretch plenty before and after, and I consumer plenty of water daily. For some reason my calves begin to hurt shortly into my jogs and or interval training. I have had this before, but it went away. Not sure why or for that matter, what caused it to come back. It is the muscle for sure, I can feel them "knot" up....I am able to keep running, and they seem to loosen up as I get going, but still remain sore. Once I am done training I rub them out and soak in warm water. Not long after they are fine, the next morening they hurt very little. And this repeats it's self.

I think you will just have to work through this. When muscles get overworked, they hurt - that's the bad news. The good news is they get stronger afterwards and will eventually not bother you, as long as it is just a muscle issue.

Have always been active. Been running for about a year. Laid off a bit and started back up a few weeks ago. It is more of a cramping sensation....I almost feel the muscle "balling" up. Sometimes it works its way gone in just a few minutes, sometimes it lingers for a bit, then goes away. Some days hurts more then others.......

Okay, this is going to sound weird, this is one of my "I know it but can't yet prove it" suggestions.

Start eating bananas. Don't laugh, just try it.

Also, like another poster said, look into getting yourself a foam roller. For 10 bucks you can work out a lot of kinks in your muscle tissue and feel a whole heck of a lot better.

Nothing weird about this at all. If the soreness you are feeling is minor cramping, cyclists have been carrying bananas in their jersey pockets for decades as an energy source and to help prevent cramping. Here is a link to the benefits of bananas:

(BTW, I rode with Andy Hampsten a couple of times when he and I were both undergraduates at the University of Florida almost three decades ago. The dude was really, really, really fast and I'm sure he is still really, really fast. He qualified for th 1980 Olympics.)

Ok...another week or so later....just to update you...those that GARA.

Calves still get sore, but, not nearly as much as they did before. I am eating nanners, but not to many more per day then I did before. I just changed the time when I would eat one....pre and post workout. I think the issue is that my calves just are not strong enough...or conditioned enough. I noticed something goofy. While walking my daughter to her classroom, which requires me to walk up to flights of stairs, if I step nearer to the edge of the stair and do a "calf lift", the muslce feels really good. Becuase of this, I have started more calve strenghten applications in the gym....and THAT seems to be helping more then anything. It's like instant results. I work them out, then run.....very little pain.